Tillage and Winter Cover Management Effects on Fruiting and Yield of Cotton

A field experiment was conducted from 1986 to 1988 on a highly erodible soil in north Mississippi to study the effects of seven cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.) cropping systems on soil erosion, stand establishment, fruiting, earliness, and yield. Stand counts for no‐till cotton following hairy vetch ( Vicia villosa Roth ) averaged 30% less than for conventional tillage cotton. No significant difference in yield between cropping systems occurred in 1986. Yields in 1987 decreased as tillage intensity increased, but this trend was reversed in 1988. Rainfall distribution within each growing season contributed to the variability in yield and fruiting response to tillage and cover crops. In 1986, no‐till cotton following wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) had 16 fruiting sites per plant as compared with 32 sites with conventional‐till cotton. Lower rates of abscision in cotton planted no‐till into wheat offset the reduced fruiting site production. Averaged over years, the number of fruiting sites on the four lower reproductive branchs (Nodes 5/2‐8) were 11% less with no‐till cotton following wheat than conventional‐till cotton. Cotton fruiting for no‐till with vetch or native winter cover was similar to reduced and conventional‐till cotton.